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Barca are touring Asia. |
When Hansi Flick's men return from Asia, a closed-door meeting - likely to be fraught with tension - will await them to decide on the new leadership role in the dressing room.
It all started with a controversial decision by Barca's board. After signing goalkeeper Joan Garcia, the club quietly put Marc-Andre ter Stegen on the transfer list.
However, the German goalkeeper refused to leave, and opted for surgery to completely treat his back injury. He confirmed that he would only be absent for about three months - not long enough for the club to replace him with another player according to La Liga regulations.
That has angered some senior Barca officials, who see Ter Stegen’s absence for health reasons as an excuse to strip him of the captaincy, despite the fact that the German star remains a mainstay in the eyes of many players. This simmering tension is creating an increasingly clear gap between the top brass and the dressing room.
Frenkie de Jong was the first to speak out in defence of his close teammate. “For me, Marc is still the captain of the team, like last season. He has always given his all for the club, is a world- class player and is respected by everyone,” De Jong said, seemingly speaking for the majority of the team.
On the contrary, names like Eric Garcia or Jules Kounde chose to speak ambiguously, avoiding conflict. They believed that choosing a captain was a decision that belonged to the coaching staff or the whole team, and everything would only be clarified after returning to Barcelona.
“Last season we voted, this year it’s not clear yet,” Eric Garcia said briefly. Kounde also shared: “This is a problem for the coach and the club, not mine.”
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Hansi Flick has a lot of work to do at Barcelona. |
But Hansi Flick himself, who the players refer to as the “referee” of the matter, has taken the initiative to withdraw from the debate. “The choice of captain is always a collective decision, as in previous years. Usually two weeks before the season is the decisive moment,” he said at a recent press conference, hinting that he would not intervene too much.
Ter Stegen, meanwhile, continues to recover from surgery and awaits word from La Liga on whether he can be replaced in the squad. But regardless of his fitness, the decision to keep or strip the German of the captaincy will be controversial – as it reflects the quiet power fractures within the club.
Barcelona may be winning on the pitch, but behind the scenes, an equally fierce battle is brewing - and the captain's armband is at the centre of the storm.
Source: https://znews.vn/barca-roi-ren-chuyen-bang-doi-truong-post1573185.html
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